The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1), Kiersten White ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Fantasy, Historical Fiction, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: November 5th, 2019

352 Pages

Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution—send Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife…and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name—and her true identity—is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old—including Arthur’s family—demand things continue as they have been, and the new—those drawn by the dream of Camelot—fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to defeat any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust, even yourself?

*THE FIRST BOOK IN THE CAMELOT RISING TRILOGY*

Isn’t that a lovely cover? I’m leading with something positive because for the second time this year an Arthurian retelling has left me underwhelmed. And this time it’s by Kiersten White who so brilliantly gender-reversed Vlad the Impaler in her The Conquerors Saga trilogy, which I LOVED! Unfortunately, in The Guinevere Deception, the first book in White’s Camelot Rising trilogy, Guinevere isn’t nearly as interesting as I expected, especially given the premise. She spends much of the book in confusion and indecision which grew quite wearisome after a while. And the saint-like Arthur depicted here, left me wondering how on earth he managed to inspire the devotion of so many, because while his ideals were as admirable as they are in any other retelling, his personality suffered from a dearth of charisma. In fact, none of the characters broke free of the one-dimensional mold they came from. There is an interesting twist with Lancelot, but it’s not fully developed, at least not by the end of this first book.

The story itself is filled with politics, which is unsurprising, however it doesn’t add enough to the promising world building, and it slows the pace down to a tortoise-like crawl for a majority of the story. The action does pick up near the latter half though, and the ending leaves me hopeful for the next book.

While The Guinevere Deception left me disappointed, this is the first book by Kiersten White that has let me down. It probably seems like I hated it, but I didn’t. There’s some welcome diversity and the twists on the Arthurian legend are creative and original. The actual story and characters just never quite lived up to the imaginative premise and after reading White’s previous books, I expect more. There are readers who enjoyed this, so as usual I encourage you to read some of the reviews on Goodreads. As for me, even though this wasn’t a win for me, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that White returns to fighting form in the sequel.

The Deep, by Alma Katsu ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Paranormal Fiction, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 10th, 2020

432 Pages

Synopsis: From the acclaimed and award winning author of “The Hunger” comes an eerie, psychological twist on one of the world’s most renowned tragedies, the sinking of the Titanic and the ill-fated sail of her sister ship, the a Britannic.

Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. That is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the Titanic from the moment they set sail. The Titanic’s passengers expected to enjoy an experience befitting the much-heralded ship’s maiden voyage, but instead, amid mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, find themselves in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone. While some of the guests and crew shrug off strange occurrences, several—including maid Annie Hebbley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeline Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim—are convinced there’s something more sinister going on. And then disaster strikes.

Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together by going to work as a nurse on the sixth sailing of the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship to support British forces fighting World War I. When she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier, she is at first thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the tragic night four years earlier. But soon his presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past—as they both discover that the terror may not be over.

Featuring an ensemble cast of characters and effortlessly combining the supernatural with the height of historical disaster, The Deep is an exploration of love and destiny, desire and innocence, and, above all, a quest to understand how our choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom.

I loved Alma Katsu’s previous book, The Hunger which was centered around the Donner party, so I was quite excited to see what her take on the Titanic and the Britannic disasters. With The Deep, Katsu once again takes historical tragedies and skillfully blends them with the supernatural.

The story shifts between the two time periods leading up to the twin tragedies, and while it’s told from multiple viewpoints, the main character that forms a connection between both events is mysterious Annie Hubbley. What adds even more fun to this tale though are some of the real life characters that you get to see like Madeline Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim. And best of all is the inclusion of Violet Jessop, who actually did live through the sinking of both ships, as well as a previous collision between the RMS Olympic and the HMS Hawke. While Violet, who’s portrayed as Annie’s friend, has a relatively minor role here, her real life story is fascinating.

Katsu subtly weaves in supernatural layers to the suspenseful events leading up to both disasters. It makes for a chilling and goosebumps-inducing read that I found impossible to put down. I have to be honest and say I did find the ending a tad anticlimactic, but this is a relatively minor complaint.

Overall, The Deep, will further cement Katsu’s reputation as a storyteller extraordinaire. She’s a refreshing voice in the genres of historical and paranormal fiction, and I can’t wait to see what she writes about next!

 

 

 

Curious Toys, by Elizabeth Hand ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Chicago, Classic Cinema, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Pedophiles, Serial Killers

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

336 Pages

Synopsis: In the sweltering summer of 1915, Pin, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a carnival fortune-teller, dresses as a boy and joins a teenage gang that roams the famous Riverview amusement park, looking for trouble.

Unbeknownst to the well-heeled city dwellers who come to enjoy the midway, the park is also host to a ruthless killer who uses the shadows of the dark carnival attractions to conduct his crimes. When Pin sees a man enter the Hell Gate ride with a young girl, and emerge alone, she knows that something horrific has occurred.

The crime will lead her to the iconic outsider artist Henry Darger, a brilliant but seemingly mad man. Together, the two navigate the seedy underbelly of a changing city to uncover a murderer few even know to look for.

I’ve been pretty fortunate in the book department this year, with very few disappointments, and I’m happy to add Curious Toys to my list of 2019 standouts. 

Curious Toys is one of those literary gems that has something for just about everyone. Historical fiction readers will love the time period and setting of Chicago’s Riverview Park in 1915. Riverview was a big part of Chicago’s landscape from 1904-1967, and the author does a fantastic job detailing the splendor of the park as well as its seedy underbelly. She also thoroughly depicts the abject poverty that so many citizens lived under, and what they did to survive. Fans of classic cinema will appreciate the inclusion of stars like Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery and Essanay Studio in the story. Art enthusiasts will be ecstatic over Hand deftly giving the artist Henry Darger such a pivotal role. And mystery lovers will be both intrigued and repulsed at the actions of the pedophile serial killer, although his identity is fairly obvious by the midway point of the book. 

This is both a plot-driven and character-driven tale, and fourteen-year-old Pin as the plucky protagonist is a wonderfully drawn personality. She’s definitely ahead of her time, and her struggles with poverty, her sexuality and the guilt she feels over the disappearance of her younger sister, makes her very sympathetic and easy to like even when her decision making is a little questionable.

Curious Toys will please not only readers who are already fans of Cynthia Hand, but also win many her new ones. The only reason why I’m not giving it a full five stars is because there are a couple of instances when Hand veers away from the main plot unnecessarily. But otherwise, I highly recommend this. It’s the kind of book where if you’re like me, you’ll wind up looking up the time period and real life personalities that are mentioned for further research. Speaking of which, I have to go peruse some more of Henry Darger’s paintings!

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Coming of Age Stories, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Racism

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit/Redhook for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 10th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: In the summer of 1901, at the age of seven, January Scaller found a Door. You know the kind of door—-the lead to Faerie, to Valhalla, to Atlantis, to all the places never found on a map.

Years late, January has forgotten her brief glimpse of elsewhere. Her life is quiet and lonely but safe on her guardian’s estate, until one day she stumbles across a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds in its pages, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. A book that might lead her back to the half-remembered door of her childhood.

But, as January gets answers to questions she never imagined, shadows creep closer. There are truths about the world that should never be revealed.

“Books can smell of cheap thrills or painstaking scholarship, of literary weight or unsolved mysteries. This one smelled unlike any book I’d ever read…It smelled like adventure itself had been harvested in the wild, distilled to a fine wine, and splashed across each page.”

January Scaller ~ The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow

What drew me first to The Thousand Doors of January, was that breathtaking cover, and that coupled with its intriguing synopsis made me request it. You know how sometimes a book will suck you in so completely that when you surface it takes you a little bit to re-acclimate yourself to the real world? Well, fair warning. That’s exactly what’s going to happen if you chose to dive into this exquisitely written debut novel, by Alix Harrow.

All of the characters—heroes, villains, and faithful canine companion alike—are so well-written that they fairly leap from the pages. January though, is the star, and my God what a memorable character! The way she grows and develops from a sullen unhappy, but imaginative child, to a young woman who has embraced her past, present, and future, in a little less than 400 pages, is nothing short of brilliant. Her voice even as that seven-year-old at the beginning is so distinctive and alive, by the end of the book I felt as though I had met her in real life. The world building is beyond amazing, with the story jumping from America of the late 1800s and early 1900s, to not one but three “elsewheres.” It’s seamlessly done and I felt as though I was visiting these different settings along with the characters. And finally, there’s the actual plot. Alix Harrow has taken the concept of hidden doorways to other worlds and spun an entirely new and ingenious mythology around them. From the ending this could very well be a standalone, but I’m hoping not. I want more!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019, and I’m thrilled to say it’s now my favorite, which is saying something as I’ve been luck enough to read some pretty spectacular books this year. It’s a magical ode to storytelling and…well, let me just finish with this: Read this if you’re a fantasy fan. Read this if you’ve never picked up a fantasy novel, yet have been tempted to veer out of your usual comfort zone. Read this if you’re a bibliophile and believe in the magic and power of stories. Read this if you love books with strong, diverse and kick-ass female characters who will have you cheering for them. Most importantly, read this if like me, you’ve ever wondered, even if just for an instant, about the possibility of magical doorways that can transport you to other worlds and wished with all your heart you could find one and walk through.

 

Old Bones (Nora Kelly #1), by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to the Grand Central Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 20th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child bring  the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party to new life in a thrilling blend of archaeology, history, murder, and suspense.

Nora Kelly, a young curator with the Santa Fe Institute of Archeology is approached by historian Clive Benton with a once-in-a-lifetime proposal: to lead a team in search of the so-called “Lost Camp” of the tragic Donner Party. This was a group of pioneers who earned a terrible place in American history when they became snowbound in the California mountains in 1847, their fate unknown, until the first skeletonized survivors stumbled out of the wilderness, raving about starvation, murder, and cannibalism. 

Benton tells Kelly he has stumbled upon an amazing find: the long-sought diary of one of the victims, which has an enigmatic description of the Lost Camp. Nora agrees to lead an expedition to locate and excavate it—-to reveal its long-buried secrets.

Once in the mountains, however, they learn that discovering the camp is only the first step in a mounting journey of fear. For as they uncover old bones, they expose the real truth of what happened, one that is far more shocking and bizarre than mere cannibalism. And when those ancient horrors lead to present day violence on a grand scale, rookie FBI agent, Corrie Swanson is assigned the case…only to find that her first investigation might very well be her last.

The bad news for fans of Aloysius Pendergast, is that he doesn’t make an appearance in Old Bones until the epilogue. The good news is that while I personally deeply missed him, Preston & Child have taken one of my favorite secondary characters in the Pendergast series, and given her wings.

Nora was actually the main character in Thunderhead (1999). As the Pendergast series took off, she became a strong supporting character, featuring predominantly in the Diogenes trilogy. If after waiting for a year for a new book by the authors, I couldn’t have this feature my Pendergast, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to take the reins. 

Joining Nora is another Pendergast supporting character, Corrie Swanson, who having been mentored by Pendergast, is now making her solo debut as an FBI agent. Both Nora and Corrie are strong-willed women, so to say they initially bump heads is putting it mildly. Nora is much more established and comfortable in her career, whereas Corrie is eager to prove herself and as a result, doesn’t always play well with others. I liked the way their relationship developed and by the end of the book they turned into quite a formidable team. I’m hoping Corrie makes more appearances in future books because they make quite a dynamic pairing.

The storyline itself is fascinating and vintage Preston and Child. Taking the historical tragedy of the Donner Party, and blending it with a modern-day sinister conspiracy was sheer genius. While it was obvious after only a few chapters in, that the shadowy organization behind grave robbings and killings were interested in a particular member of the doomed pioneers, I was in the dark until the last part of the book as to the question of why. Likewise, I was completely surprised regarding the unmasking of the villains who Nora and Corrie come into personal contact with. Once the big reveal came though, I had one of those “Aha!” moments because everything came together and made sense.

The only reason why I’m not giving this 5 stars is because as enjoyable as the characters and the blending of history with a contemporary conspiracy thriller were, there was a certain multi-layered complexity that are always a big part of the Pendergast books, that was missing here. Also, I’m usually literally chewing my nails while devouring a Pendergast tale but here, while I definitely had an avid interest in what was going on, I wasn’t quite so desperate about it. That said, Old Bones is a fun and entertaining introduction to this new series, and I’m looking forward to more (hopefully after a new Pendergast novel comes out though!) For those of you who haven’t read the Pendergast series, but are getting tired of my ravings about it, this is an excellent place to begin your introduction into the wonderfully weird, creepy, mysterious, always intriguing and exciting world of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child! 

 

 

 

The Lady Rogue, by Jennifer Bennett ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Historical Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Vlad the Impaler, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 3rd, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: The Last Magician meets A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this thrilling tale filled with magic and set in the mysterious Carpathian Mountains where a girl must hunt down Vlad the Impaler’s cursed ring in order to save her father.

Some legends never die…

Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé—and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life—Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left alone to sit in her hotel in Istanbul. 

Until Huck arrives from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler—more widely known as Dracula—and that it just might be the key to finding him.

Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it too. And they will go to any lengths—including murder—in order to possess it.  

The Lady Rogue is the first book I’ve read by Jenn Bennett, but I knew as soon as I saw the gorgeous cover and read the premise that I had to get my greedy hands on it!

While it was a lot fluffier than I expected, it was a fun read which I found somewhat reminiscent of Romancing the Stone. The pacing was a little uneven at times with a few sections making me want to cheat and skim over them, but other than that, everything worked. The banter between Theodora and Huck had me laughing out loud several times, and I loved the chemistry between the two of them. The storyline with its sinister society, coded journals, and wonderful train rides through early 1900s Romania kept me turning the pages. And while the mystery itself was a trifle predictable, everything else was just so much darn fun that I didn’t care. The ending ties everything up neatly but I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of Theodora Decker and Huck Gallagher. I think this could be the beginning of a fun and exciting series. 

 

 

 

The Dark Days Club Blog Tour ~ The Dark Days Deceit (Lady Helen #3), by Alison Goodman

Tags

Dark Days Blog Tour, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal Fiction, Regency England, Romance, Suspense

This is the third and final part of The Dark Days Club Book Tour, hosted by Penguin Young Readers.

Release Date: November 20th, 2018

527 Pages

Synopsis: The thrilling genre-bending conclusion to Lady Helen’s demon-hunting adventures, set in the Regency world.

Lady Helen has retreated to a country estate outside Bath to prepare for her wedding to the Duke of Selburn, yet she knows she has unfinished business to complete. She and the dangerously charismatic Lord Carlston have learned they are a dyad, bonded in blood, and only they are strong enough to defeat the Grand Deceiver, who threatens to throw mankind into chaos. But the heinous death-soaked Ligatus Helen has absorbed is tearing a rift in her mind. Its power, if unleashed, will annihilate both Helen and Carlston unless they can find a way to harness its ghastly force and defeat their enemy.

In the final book of the trilogy that began with THE DARK DAYS CLUB and continued with THE DARK DAYS PACT, Lady Helen’s story hurtles to a shocking conclusion full of action, heartbreak, and betrayal.

I have one word after finishing The Dark Days Deceit: BRILLIANT! Okay, I have a few more like perfect, exciting, heartbreaking, etc. Everything came together perfectly in this thrilling conclusion. I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more.

It had plenty of action and jaw-dropping plot twists which gave me a couple of late nights because I simply couldn’t put the book down. Looking back at the previous two books it’s obvious how much the characters have grown, especially Helen and Darby.

The amount of historical detail the author included again without detracting from the storyline again amazed me. She doesn’t shy away from anything including a character preparing to use a chamber pot.

While the romance once again took a backseat to the action, it was a beautiful slow burning one that had some truly swoon-worthy moments. The bittersweet ending tied everything up, yet left open the possibility of perhaps a spinoff series. I’m hoping this isn’t wistful thinking on my part because I’m just not ready to say goodbye to these characters. The Dark Days Club trilogy has become one of my favorites and if you love Regency fiction, the paranormal, and larger than life characters, I HIGHLY recommend these books!

About the Author: 

Alison Goodman writes in a variety of genres, ranging from the genre-bending DARK DAYS CLUB titles to the EON/EONA fantasy duology, to the YA science fiction thriller SINGING THE DOGSTAR BLUES. She was a D.J. O’Hearn Memorial Fellow at Melbourne University, holds a Master of Arts degree and mentors emerging writers. A long-time lover of the Regency period, she has a treasure trove of material to be viewed at https://www.pinterest.com/alisongoodman/ She’s online at http://www.darkdaysclub.com and on Twitter at https://mobile.twitter.com/alisongoodman 

The Dark Days Deceit can be found at:

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Days-Deceit-Helen-Novel/dp/0670785490/ref=sr_

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dark-days-deceit-alisongoodman/1128072856;jsessionid=1AEFD2CFCB16

Goodreads – https://goodreads.com/book/show/26061583-the-dark-days-deceit?from_search=true

Week 3 Blog Tour Schedule:

November 12 – Eater of Books ~ https://eaterofbooks.blogspot.com – Favorite Quotes

November 13 – @darkfaerietales ~ https://www.instagram.com/darkfaerietales_/ – Creative Instagram Picture 

November 14 – Darque Dreamer Reads  ~ https://darquedreamerreads.wordpress.com – Review with gifs and Moodboard 

November 15 – My Friends are Fiction ~ https://www.instagram.com/myfriendsarefiction – Review and Creative Instagram Picture

November 16 – By Hook Or By Book ~ https://cadburypom.wordpress.com – Review with gifs

 

The Sacrifice Box, by Martin Stewart (Blog Tour) ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Coming-of-age stories, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, YA Fiction

Thanks to a NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: August 28th, 2018

368 Pages

Synopsis: A horror story about friendship, growing up, and finding a place in the world: Gremlins meets The Breakfast Club by way of Stephen King and Stranger Things.

1982, the summer before seventh grade. Five kids with nothing in common—Sep, Arkle, Hadley, Lamb, and Mack—become instant friends. On the last day of summer, they find a stone box buried in the forest, and each places an object inside to seal their friendship. And they make rules:

Never come to the box alone.

Never open it after dark.

Never take back your sacrifice.

1986, the summer before eleventh grade. The five haven’t spoken since that day in 1982. Sep has gone through the past four years alone and plans to escape to boarding school. But strange things are happening—mirrors are breaking unexpectedly, electricity is flickering in and out, and people are coming down with inexplicable physical ailments. 

Someone has broken the rules. And it seems the five committed more than objects to the box’s ancient stone—they gave it their deepest secrets and darkest fears, and now these are being returned in a flood of shambling corpses, murderous toys, and undead pets. The gang must reunite in an attempt to discover the secrets of the sacrifice box—and Sep might be the only one who can stem its tide of evil before it’s too late.

Before I give you my review of The Sacrifice Box, I have to give animal lovers fair warning: A LOT of them die in this book, and in some pretty gruesome ways. Humans do as well, but let’s be honest, it’s our fuzzy four-legged friends that we really hate seeing perish. What? I’m just saying what we’re all thinking! Anyway, if you have a problem with books like Stephen King’s Pet Semetary, then this twisted tale may not be for you.

 

Okay, now for the nitty gritty. As the premise states, The Sacrifice Box is part Stranger Things, part Breakfast Club, part Gremlins, and definitely has a mix of Stephen King—specifically Stand By Me, It, and Pet Semetary. This could have been a red hot derivative mess, but Martin Stewart takes all these elements and skillfully blends them into a nightmarish concoction that captured my attention so thoroughly I finished it in one sitting.

 

There were two issues I had which prevented me from giving this 5 stars. While I loved the main character September “Sep” Hope, I didn’t find the other characters quite as well rounded. There’s a lot of action going on in this story and it flips between different timelines, and I think that because there was so much happening, the characters’ development suffered a bit. My other problem was with the ending which I felt was too rushed and left a few loose ends. Because I’m a reader who likes her books to be neatly tied up, especially when they’re standalones, I was a little frustrated by this.

Despite these issues, I absolutely loved The Sacrifice Box and I think fans of hardcore horror will really enjoy this. The book is marketed as YA, but I would strongly recommend it for 16 year-olds and up due to all the blood, gore, and overall scariness of it. It’s an entertaining mix of terrifying horror and a poignant coming-of-age story that looks at love, friendship, and the secrets we all keep hidden deep within ourselves.

 

You’re probably wondering “Kim! What’s up with the creepy gifs?” Well, if you choose to read this let’s just say you might want to lock up any stuffed animals and dolls in the house. And you might want to keep an eye on your pets. Um, and be wary of birds, squirrels, deer, and…Just don’t go outside until you’ve recovered from reading this book!

About the Author:

Martin Stewart has previously worked as an English teacher, university lecturer, barman, recycling technician, and golf caddy. A native of Glasgow, he now lives on Scotland’s west coast with his wife, baby daughter, and a very big dog. He enjoys cooking with eggs, running on the beach, re-watching his favorite films, and buying books to feed his to-be-read pile. 

You can also find him here:

Twitter – https://mobile.twitter.com/martinjstewart

Goodreads – https://goodreads.com/author/show/238277.Martin_Stewart

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/martin_j_stewart/

 

 

The Hellfire Club, by Jake Tapper ~ 2.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Political Thrillers

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

352 Pages

Synopsis: The debut political thriller from Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and the New York Times bestselling author of “The Outpost”—-1950’s D.C. intrigue about a secret society and a young Vongressman in its grip.

Charlie Marder is an unlikely Congressman. Thrust into office by his family ties after his predecessor died mysteriously. Charlie is struggling to navigate the dangerous waters of of 1950s Washington, DC , alongside his young wife Margaret, a zoologist with ambitions of her own. Amid the swirl of glamorous and powerful political leaders and deal makers, a mysterious fatal car accident thrusts Charlie and Margaret into an underworld of backroom deals, secret societies, and a plot that could change the course of history. When Charlie discovers a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of governance, he has to fight not only for his principles and his newfound political career…but for his life.

I have a confession to make. Jake Tapper is not only one of my favorite journalists, but I also have a secret crush on him. Plus he has my eternal admiration for the way he interviews Kellyanne Conway without ever losing his cool when she’s spouting her “alternative facts”. So, when I heard that his first foray into fiction was coming out I knew I had to request it. 

The Hellfire Club starts out very strong and immediately grabbed my attention. I love the time period of the early 1950s and Tapper, not surprisingly knows his stuff when it comes to politics during the McCarthy era. All the big political players are here: Jack and Bobby Kennedy; Joe McCarthy and his legal minion Roy Cohn; Senator Estes Kefauver who led a highly publicized investigation into organized crime, and many other well known personalities of the time. Dropped into the Washington swamp is the young and naive Charlie Marder. I liked a couple of the characters, but most of them were a little two-dimensional.   The plot turned into something so convoluted it further spoiled my enjoyment. There are too many subplots that cover everything from juvenile delinquency, to comic books, to farm bills, to Puerto Rican revolution, and even wild horses. If Tapper had just focused on the secret society and conspiracy angle, I think this would have been a great political thriller. I love conspiracies much as the next reader, but there was so much much going on my head was spinning. There were also too many parallels to what’s going on with Washington politics today and they came across as forced and contrived. 

It breaks my heart to give The Hellfire Club a poor review. The concept and premise is wonderful, but for me the characters and contrived storyline just never meshed. I’ve read a couple of  Jake Tapper’s nonfiction books—The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor (2012) and Down & Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency (2000). The first book detailed one of the deadliest battles between U.S. troops and the Taliban. The second was an intriguing breakdown of the Florida election debacle that took place in 2000. Both were meticulously researched and captivating, and I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t read a lot of nonfiction. If Tapper decides to try his hand at another fiction book, I’ll probably try it, but I’m hoping he won’t because I suspect it’s just not his forte. The Hellfire Club is receiving mixed reviews, so if you’re interested by the premise, as always I encourage you to check this out for yourself.

Truly Devious, by Maureen Johnson ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Historical Fiction, LGBT, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

432 Pages

Synopsis: Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly Devious.” It becomes one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The synopsis of Truly Devious immediately grabbed my attention. And then much to my delight, Maureen Johnson’s dedication read:

For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library.

Right there I had a hunch I was going to love this book. But wait. It gets even better! On the first page is the image of a letter sent to Arthur Ellingham in 1936.

Look! A riddle!

Time for fun!

Should we use 

A rope or gun?

Knives are sharp

And gleam so pretty

Poison’s slow,

Which is a pity

Fire is festive,

Drowning’s slow

Hanging’s a

Ropy way to go

A broken head

A nasty fall

A car colliding 

With a wall

Bombs make a

Very jolly noise

Such ways to

Punish naughty boys

What shall we use?

We can’t decide

Just like you cannot

Run or hide

Ha ha.

Truly,

Devious

 

Well, if you could have seen me at this point, you may have feared for my sanity, as I was chortling and rubbing my hands together in anticipation. And I’m happy to say that for the most part I was not disappointed.

The characters were well-rounded and diverse. Stevie suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, but talks her parents into allowing her to attend the Ellingham Academy because she’s obsessed with the tragic unsolved mystery of the Ellinghams. She dreams of a career in law enforcement and is determined to solve this cold case. She’s extremely smart but socially awkward due to her anxiety issues. I was completely in her corner from the very beginning.

The secondary characters are intriguing and quirky. I especially liked Stevie’s best friend Janelle who is very sweet and supportive. I also loved Nate who seems to always be there for Stevie while at the same time he’s constantly agonizing over the novel he’s writing. I wasn’t overly fond of the romance between Stevie and David. I didn’t like David and the romance just felt forced, but it wasn’t a huge part of the story so it didn’t bother me too much.

The plot(s) had me completely hooked from the first page, despite being a slow burner. The story switches between the two timelines seamlessly. Both mysteries kept me guessing and even at the end, I was as baffled as I was in the beginning. Speaking of the ending, you’re going to either love it or hate it. Very little is given in the way of answers which is frustrating, but it perfectly sets the stage for the next book.

Overall I found Truly Devious to be a fun and engaging YA mystery which in a way brought me back to my Nancy Drew days. It’s filled with memorable characters and the while the cliffhanger ending made me want to hurl my Kindle across the room, it has me eagerly anticipating the sequel. I would definitely recommend this to any mystery loving reader.